The Man Behind the Legend
by rose-ettastone
Summary: The life of Albus Dumbledore from beginning to end. His fall, his rise, his life.


**A/N: I would just like to make this clear here in case someone missed it in the summary: this fic will have some Dumbledore/Grindelwald eventually, as in it is guy/guy. If you have a problem with this, don't read. It's pretty simple. **

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, the characters, the plot, in any way shape or form. All credit goes to JK Rowling.

Chapter 1

They didn't know where she was. Ariana had a tendency to walk off on her own, enchanted by whatever she happened to see. She was Albus's pride and joy. He loved her, as much as he loved Aberforth.

Their mother was in the house, cleaning. Their father was working.

"Albus," his mother called from the kitchen, "go find your sister. Supper will be ready soon."

He went off into the backyard where Ariana loved to play. Aberforth caught up to him and they walked together. They were the Dumbledore brothers, twins, attached at the hip even though Aberforth insisted he was younger. By a whole of two minutes, but that seemed to mean so much, as if Aberforth needed someone to look up to. Albus knew what it was. Aberforth wasn't the type to lead. He followed behind, quiet. It was alright. Some men were meant to lead and some to follow.

Albus knew what kind he was. Even at this age he knew that he would lead. Responsibility lay with him.

"Where do you suppose she went today?" Aberforth asked when they saw that Ariana wasn't in the backyard.

"Same place she always goes Aberforth." Dumbledore said. "You know how much she loves playing in that park."

Aberforth didn't say anything. They walked together to the same park that they always played in. It was oddly quiet, the streets were empty and Albus almost turned back home. Ariana wouldn't be at the park if there were no children.

It was the scream, shrill and terrified, bordering on madness that made him turn back. He didn't need Aberforth's cry to know who it was. Albus was running before he knew what he was doing. There was no plan in his head. He knew that whoever was with Ariana could be dangerous and he was Albus, a kid with no magic wand to protect him or his sister.

"Get mum." Albus yelled to Aberforth.

He waited only until Aberforth was running and then he sprinted those last few yards to the park. He was expecting wizards, wands, magic. What he found instead were three muggle boys running away. Every detail of their faces was etched into his mind even as he ran to his sister.

Ariana was on the floor, her clothes ripped, her hair a mess. There was blood and Albus was afraid to see what else. He picked her up into his arms. She was trembling, curled into a ball as he rocked her back and forth. His mother was there probably minutes later, pulling her daughter into her arms.

They carried her home. They set her down. Ariana said nothing. They asked her what happened. She cried. It wasn't until their father came home that Ariana said anything.

"It hurts." she said. "It all hurts daddy."

"What hurts darling?" their father asked holding his daughter close.

Ariana told them. It was the first time in his life that Albus remembered hating anyone so much. Muggles. He was young. He hated them all.

Albus didn't know what his father was planning. His mother was probably the only one who knew. But when Albus found out, late at night when the dementors came to take his father away, he wasn't the least bit ashamed. Every part of him burned with fierce pride that his father had made the muggles pay.

Even after that, Ariana wasn't the same. She cried at night, woke up cold and alone. Albus's couldn't look at her. Every time he saw he saw her empty eyes he remembered the young girl who used to run in their backyard. He remembered her awe when she made a door open with her magic or made flowers bloom. That was Ariana, bringing life, full of life. The Ariana now didn't have that spark.

She sat alone sometimes, quiet, looking at something no one else could see. Sometimes she wasn't quiet, sometimes she remembered, became violent. Albus was afraid, afraid of what had happened to make his sister like that. He was afraid of what muggles could do. He feared them and because he feared them, he hated them.

Their mother, Kendra, became quiet. She stopped smiling. She moved the family, packed them up and took them someplace else after their father was taken to Azkaban. She hid Ariana.

"I can't let them take her." She told them, eyes brimming with tears as she stroked her daughter's hair. "They can't have her. Not my baby too."

Aberforth said nothing. He just took Ariana's hand and pulled her up to her bedroom. Albus stayed. He was the one who saw his mother break down. He saw we cry.

"I hate them." she said. "All of them. I'm ashamed to be part of them."

Albus was ten. That was the last time he ever saw his mother cry. It was the last time he ever heard her mention things from the muggle world. She was muggle-born, but from that day on Kendra did everything in her power to erase that. She professed the pure-blood. She learned to lie. Ariana existed only behind their house walls. Outside Kendra had only Aberforth and Albus.

Albus was her golden child. He never questioned her. He learned from her, crafted his lies like her.

"Is it just you and your brother then?" a neighbor once asked him.

"Yes," he had answered as Aberforth stiffened beside him. "Just my brother and I ma'am."

Aberforth didn't agree with it. He wanted Ariana to be outside where she so loved to be once. His mother would not allow it, so Aberforth took to caring for Ariana. He lived for her while Albus and his mother carried on, crafting their lie, protecting their family, keeping them together.

Albus learned that it was ignorance that he should be afraid of. It was ignorance that made those muggle boys do what they did. Ignorance. That is what Albus feared and that's why he vowed he would learn everything he could. He had to for Ariana, so that she wouldn't have to hide, so that no one would have to hide, so that no one would ever have to go through what his family went through.


End file.
